Writing 2B 2007 Essays

I have removed the names of the authors of these essays to protect their privacy. All essays remain the property of their respective writers. If you visit their blogs (or read the e-mail I sent to students) you will find the names of the writers.


Seeing Eye Dogs

Can you imagine if you suddenly lost your eyesight? You would have to realize something by touching, hearing, and smelling it. For example, if you were looking for someone, you could only recognize them by hearing the voice of the one who you are waiting for. Also, if you want to go to the bathroom, you have to touch anything, anywhere to recognize what you are touching now and try to find out where the bathroom is.

It is difficult for the visual handicapped to succeed in daily life, but it is easy to support them. How can we support them? Unexpectedly, we don't have to support them. Some dogs will support them! They are called "Seeing Eye dogs". Seeing Eye dogs lead a visually handicapped person to wherever he or she wants to go. Subsequently, they are permitted in hotels, restaurant, public transportation, and any other places. Also, they assist the visually handicapped when the visually handicapped have some trouble because of losing their eye sight. For example, when a phone rings, it's difficult for the visual handicapped to pick up the phone. So, instead, their Seeing Eye dog picks up the phone and gives it to him or her.

Today, I went to a concert called "Eye mate Charity Concert". At this time, I had an opportunity to work with Seeing Eye dogs. My role at that time was to lead visual handicapped and Seeing Eye dogs to their seats, the toilet, and the dressing room.

I felt that the Seeing Eye dog worked well in daily life of human beings. Even while the visual handicapped person was in the toilet, their Seeing Eye dog stayed so quiet and never barked at anyone.

I could learn more information about Seeing Eye dog in this time. We don't personify Seeing Eye dogs. Because, Seeing Eye Dogs are working dogs and also they are always not calm. Hence, they do unexpected intrusion. If you touch or talk to Seeing Eye Dogs without the permission of the visually handicapped person, they might do something that you do not want. For example, suddenly, they bark at someone or they grab something that someone possesses. They are dangerous! To avoid trouble, we should not distract them from their work. After all, Seeing Eye dog is just a "tool" for the visually handicapped person. But one of the visual handicapped said to us, "Even though Seeing Eye dog is so talented, if the dog stays with the visually handicapped but never assists them, it is not useful. However, the more they are staying together and helping each other, the more they can create an understandable relationship between the Seeing Eye Dog and visually handicapped."

She added, "When you encounter a visual handicapped person with a Seeing Eye dog, please ask him or her. He or she might need help."

I can sympathize with her story. And I can learn more and more about the relation between Seeing Eye Dogs and the visually handicapped. To learn about Seeing Eye Dogs, I can have a chance to ask visually handicapped people if they need to help or not. That will a big chance to contribute to society and they will so happy.


My Dear Friends

Do you have any real friends? If so, can you partake in your joy or worry with them? I think friends are the most important part of life. Sometimes we tend to forget about it, because it is so natural to spend time with them. However when you are troubled or they make you happy, you would notice how important they are!

Imagine if you had no friends at school. In that situation, could you spend a good school life? I do not think so. You will feel lonely and you would want to have friends to eat lunch or study together with. Also if you have trouble, you would not have any advisers to help you solve it.

When I was studying in New Zealand for a year, I thought friends were so important. I went to Waipukurau, where there were no Japanese except Miki, who was from my high school, and I. We could make many friends of Kiwis and overseas students soon. Among those friends, there was Tracey, who was a year younger than us. She loved studying Japanese, so we taught her our own language, culture, food and so on. Unfortunately, she did not have many friends. Therefore she spent lunch or break time with us. We shared many interesting stories, complaints and pleasures. She was always next to me when I had trouble. However, the day I had to go back to Japan eventually came. She cried so much for me and she said that it was the first time that she had a real friend. When I heard that, I noticed how important she was and that the reason I had a great life in Waipukurau was that she always thought about me. After I realized it, my tears could not stop coming. Still now, she always addresses me as "Dear my best friend" by e-mail.

In this university, I have friends who help me when I have trouble with my boyfriend, part-time job and so on. They always listen to my worries and think about it as seriously as if it were their own case. I cannot tell you how much I was helped by them.

Many of my friends ask me, "Why do you always look so happy?" It is embarrassing to answer truthfully, so I always say, "Because I am optimistic." But today, I will tell you the truth. It is because my friends are always there!! I am grateful to have these friends. When they have worries, I will always be with them, too.


Important Things of Life

"You have to always have consideration for others." My mother has often said those words to my brothers and me since I was a kindergartner. I have kept in mind those words for long years. I sometimes remember this, because in this world, quite a few people do not have consideration for others. Therefore, it is important to have consideration for others. Now, I am going to say about those words.

My mother said what is important to live with other people in this world since I was a child. In those days, I often quarreled with my brothers. For example, I wanted to watch my favorite TV program like music, dramas and variety show, but my brothers wanted to watch another TV program like animated cartoon, martial arts and sports. My opinion was always different from my brother's. Therefore, I always quarreled about TV program with my brothers. Then, my mother always scolded us, “You must have consideration for others. You have to have feelings of letting others have their way sometimes.” After all, I gave in to my brothers, because I agreed with my mother’s thought. I understand what is important to live with other people in this society.

Nowadays, I sometimes remember my mother’s words, because in this world, quite a few people do not have consideration for others. For example, in a train, a pregnant woman may board and stand near the priority seat. Although everyone in this train understands this, people who are sitting in this seat do not hand over their seat to her. This is a very strange thing. Most people pretend to sleep, and do not transfer their seat. They should hand over their seat I think. Therefore, I recall my mother’s words, and I sometimes think about that.

Finally, the most important thing is consideration for others. Without this, we can not live in this world. Someone said, “People who live in this world are supporting each other.” We are not living alone. A lot of people live in this world. Therefore we must have consideration for others, and we should have feeling for other people and support others when someone has a problem.


How My Family Changed

People say people are changing as time passed. I think it to apply everyone, but it may be better or worse. My family is also changing. We are getting older and changing daily life little by little. However, we are changing for the better because our distance is getting close. I’ll tell you about what we changed these days.

First of all, I’ll tell you about my sister. When we are little, I didn’t get along with her. We were always fighting and she made me cry. I hated her then. I was always thinking that I didn’t know why I had a sister and I wanted to have a younger sister. When she was a university student, she was in a dormitory. She was away from me. A distance made us better. When my birthday came, she prepared my birthday present. She had never done such a thing. A thing I never imagined was missing her. The most surprised person was me, because I hated her for a long time. When we were away from each other, we realized how essential we were to each other. After she came back home, we usually went out together and talked a lot.

Second, I’ll tell about my father. He changed differently because he began to cook dinner. I can’t believe it even now. He always cleaned in the every weekend, but he never cooked. I think he didn’t like cooking, but he began. He is still a beginner, but his dinner is getting nice. He can cook without instant Chinese noodles now! Finally, I’ll tell you about my mother. She looks she is enjoying her life lately. She works out, goes shopping, and, to a beauty- treatment clinic. She looks happier. I am really glad her life is satisfying.

Actually, my family used to have a distance obviously, but it faded away now. I think we will change day and day. I hope our life is better and happier.


The Harm That Cigarettes Do To People

Do you know about the harm that cigarettes do to people? In recent years, campaigns against smoking are famous around the world. In Japan, public vehicle seats became no smoking seats because we found smoking not harms only the smoker but also others. No-smoking area and no-smoking building has increased year after year in many cities.By the way, what is the harm caused by smoking?

First, it is cancer. This is depended on carcinogen of cigarettes. Cigarettes contains many carcinogens according to survey. This carcinogen is mainly tar. Tar dosen’t dissolve into blood, stick to cell and bring about cancer. The kind of cancer caused by carcinogens in cigarettes is lung cancer, larynx cancer, cancer of the esophagus, and so on. That is to say, normal cell change cancer cell and keep increasing. And there is harm to cigarettes like this.

Second, it is cardiac infarction. This is caused by nicotine in cigarettes. The nicotine makes veins contract and blood pressure rise. This is why the nicotine makes vein choke and cause cardiac infarction.

And, the most awkward thing is the nicotine dependence of degree is as strong as drug and very, very strong if the age of beginning to smoke is young.

Therefore, many smokers can’t stop smoking easily. So, even if the people find smoking is bad for their health, they keep smoking.But, the circumstance that good for people qutting smoking have appeared. For example, the smoker can go to the doctor to quit smoking and make use of health insurance because is disease.

Finally, we should know about harm that cigarettes not to smoke. Especially, we should teach young people about it because they smoke from curiosity. And, measures against smoking should be carried out to not to smoke more.


About “An Inconvenient Truth”

Human beings, created by God, are destroying the earth created by God. We human being should know this truth. It must not be allowed.

“Which is heavier, gold or the globe?” Sarcastically, Mr. Al Gore asked us this question in the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. How can people compare gold and the globe? The earth is apparently getting warm and heading toward destroying. Though there are a lot of phenomenon of global warming occurring, we don’t want to face the truth. There are yet some scientists who claim that the global warming is a kind of swindle. We can’t recognize how important the earth is. Or we are just pretending as if we don’t recognize that, because this truth is inconvenient for the growth of economy?

Do you know that a small island called Tuvalu is going to go under the ocean caused by sea level rise in the near future? Many people on the earth do not know even the existence of this island. Without being known, this island is about to disappear from the map of the earth. People of this island are living happily long away from the word of the global warming. We are depriving humble happiness from those innocent people. Is it OK that we treat it just like a fire on the other side of the river? Cities and islands must be disappearing under the water one after another from now and on. Phenomenon in Tuvalu is only first stage of cruel disasters.
What if Japan sinks under the water? What if you have to abandon Japan? What if you have to separate from your family, father, mother, sisters, brothers and friends? What if you have to run away from the earth? At this time what would you think?

Who is to blame? Who made this earth like this? It was caused by us human beings. It is said that the main reason of the global warming is the development of the economy. For this development, people have generated huge amount of emission gasses like carbon dioxide. It led the greenhouse effects to the earth. Is this the result of economic growth? Have we been making efforts of developing economy in order to destroy the earth? No, we must have just been doing that because we believed the development of economy would lead to happiness. However ironically, we have been destroying our own place to live.

There are still a lot of people who think that gold is heavier than the earth. Emission trading is very active. Some countries are producing huge amount of carbon dioxide only for their liver and selling emissions credits to our other countries. Some other countries are trading the emissions credits and getting big profits from the trading. Another country is madly buying the right of emission credits in order to ensure that mandated caps are met, which was promised in the Kyoto protocol. They all are thinking only of their own benefit. They are too selfish, aren’t they? I feel very sad that they can not understand how important the earth is.

Is the earth only for human beings? We have to recognize that we human being are snuffing out many lives. There are many species living on the earth. The number of endangered species reached around 16,000 and this year about 200 species were newly added to this list, including coral. The size of hurricanes and typhoons is getting bigger and bigger every year. On the other hand, forest fires and droughts have recently occurred happened very frequently in many places of the world. All these are man-made disasters. We are destroying not only the place we live but also places other species live.

The earth is priceless, so we have to protect it. I remember one scene of “Planet of the Apes”. George Taylor, the leading character, had time-slipped to the future of hundreds of years from now and arrived on an unknown planet. The planet was completely ruined and it was dominated by monkeys. While he was running away from the monkeys’ world, he found the Statue of Liberty half-buried in the sand. That let him know the destroyed place, which he thought was an unknown planet, was obviously the earth. He was devastated and mourned while hitting the ground, saying, “Oh, my God. I’m back. We finally really did it.” He found out that people destroyed the earth by their own hands.

At the moment the earth is facing to many crises, such as nuclear bombs, war, starvation, increasing population, and global warming. We each have to think what we can do to prevent it. We must do something to rescue the earth. We have to sustain the earth by some means for the future, for our descendants, for other animals, for plants, and above all, for us.


Committing Suicide

One of the topics recently disturbing the world in news is suicide. Because it is a very dark story, I am disappointed. A person committing suicide suppresses their life for various reasons. The age of people who commit suicide varies, and the reason also varies by sex and cultural background. In this way there are various backgrounds such as age, sex, nationality, and cultural background for committing suicide. In such situation, the opportunities when I wondered about what it is with what or death to be live increased.

At first, it is a basic insight about committing suicide that I want to consider. Unfortunately some people seem to have a desire for death. On the other hand, people have a restraint function for death. If this two balance is to equal, some people may control their desire death In other words, solidarity with one’s family and friends can restrain of the suicide act of a person to a proper degree. In this way, I think that a person is connected to others and lives. I think that I live so far, and a friend and everyone is supported by friends and family and I was able to live some other time. And, in what I was able to live for here, I want to thank my family and my friends, all the people whom I have met so far. At least, I never want to see my family, my friends, my lover or anyone commit suicide. However, I think that I do not care about other people.

The next thing I consider is why some people want to be dead. I seem to have described it in the first paragraph, I know some people had a desire for the death. However, will only this desire really lead a person to death? Therefore will a person abandon one's holy life by oneself? It is not for anyone to know the answer. I cannot know; only the person who committed suicide knows the answer. In fact, even some people who is going to commit suicide may not know the truly answer. Each person has different sense of values and way of thinking. It is certain that the person must pass death soon. It is natural for sense of values to be different and committing suicide is not to do it by oneself, I think. If it is to be able to do it, I do not want to add the right and wrong about committing suicide. Because I think that some people who want to be alive may not understand committing suicides’ feeling and some people who committing suicide may not understand a feeling of some people who want. What are life and the death? Sometimes I think. I want to suggest that people should cherish own life.

Finally, I want to believe that life is so precious or beautiful. We are sometimes weak. We are sometimes strong. So I think life is splendid. If we could be alive, we could laugh, cry, and love someone. In addition, there are a lot of pleasant things. If we could be in the death, there are no things such as interesting, good, pleasant or happy. So I believe in happy life. Every moment is so great. There may be time when most of the people sometimes want to commit suicide because of feeling vexation and despair. All people never fail to die. We can have own life only once and there is the only one chance to enjoy own life. So I will make too much wonderful memory and spend happily laughingly until I die.


Magic Music

Do you like music? I love music very much. Music has a special power. It heals people and gives them energy. This power helped me many times. Have you ever had such as an experience?

Music has a power like a magic. For instance, some farmers play classical music on the CD in a greenhouse. Plants, vegetables, and fruits grow up more quickly. Not only that, but also taste better. Then, what is the music for the people? I think that it is necessary thing for all the people. Music has been an amusement from the past. However, it has not only been an entertainment but also healed people. When something happens to you, (sad things, happy things, and hard things) music will always be next to you. Music and your experiences stay in your mind as your memories.

The encouraging song that you listened to when you met with misfortune or hard times are the tool of reminiscence, and that song is a fight song for you to confront new troubles. If you want to cheer up, you should listen to a song full of vigor. Your mind will calm down and brighten, so you can see the environment freshly and clearly. Also you will feel new power and energy.

How do you calm down when you feel nervous? Some people write Chinese characters on their palms and do the gesture like swallowing it. Do you really calm down this way? You should listen to music when you’re nervous. Many athletes listen to music before games to relax. Listening to music also helps to improve concentration. You think that listening to music might disturb your concentration, but that’s because that song does not match that time. You should look for the best song for you. It is very fun when you find it.

Music is a tool for me to be myself. I listen to Rock music after something happens to me and I am upset, and I feel my mind become clear. I listen to peaceful songs if I want to feel kind feelings. I can calm down. I listen to ballads as I feel sad, and music fills my heart so it becomes light. My heart has wings as I listen to music, and I feel free.

Music is a magic for us. It takes and attracts us. We can use it and improve ourselves by it. Fortune follows music and certainly come us. How do you feel this thing? Do you feel happy and bright feelings? At least I feel that because music heals me when I am down. It raises me up. When you are down, listen to music.


Dear Grandma

On the twenty-third day of August, 2007, my grandmother left us. When I was taking a test in the day, I felt some bad premonition that my grandmother would soon die or something like that. I knew that she was not good, but I believed and wished that she could live more than a week. However, the time came unexpectedly.

Her existence was very big for me. She is my father’s mother, and lived in the same town, so we visited her house many times. She always welcomed us and she was glad to see us. My most impressive memory is when I was in hospital. When I was a primary schoolchild, I got pneumonia. It was really hard, and after I was hospitalized, she was worried about me and often visited me. Hospitalized living was so lonely and boring for me, but she always tried to help me to not feel alone and it was really helpful for me. Grandma was a great person.

However, I can not forget my father’s image no matter how much time passes. If I close my eyes, I can still recall my father’s image vividly. He did not cry in front of us, but he absolutely suffered grief at the sad thing. I also suffer at that, but I did not cry except when we saw her off into the cremation and she was in the casket in which she was surrounded by plenty of flowers. Perhaps, the reason why I didn’t cry is I knew about her that her body was not well she had been in hospital for about two years. After my grandfather passed away about 6 years ago, she became less energetic.

Now, about two months have passed since she passed away, but I could not help living without thinking about her and my father. Every time I think about her life. Every time I ask myself, “Could she spend time happily? Could we help her rightly?”

The greatest suffering is after losing a dear person. Most people try to forget the grief, because it is too cruel, and most people do not want to accept the fact, because it is too sorrowful. However, I think we do not have to forget about the grief even if we can not bear the heart pain any longer. In other words, we should not forget about it. We are all equal before death. It will definitely come sooner or later.

However, we were born of our parents, and they were also born of their parents. This is just a truth. Therefore, we should respect our elders. We also have to accept our dear one’s death and remember them. To remember them will be a great service for the dead.

Therefore, I won’t forget about her, and will have a respect forever. I think she is always watching over me. If you suffer grief at someone’s death, please do not be sorrowful, please do not kill them, but please remember them and keep them alive in your warm heart forever.


Manners For A Better Life

In July, I learned about manners in my Career Planning class. To be honest, I had not thought about manners so much until that day. Yet, I came to know how important manners are in that class. I noticed that we can never live our lives comfortably or pleasantly without manners. Accordingly, I would like to tell you about the importance of manners.

First of all, what are manners? What do manners mean? One dictionary defines manners are ways of acting or behaving. Another dictionary says that manners are the conduct or behavior which won’t cause either unnecessary competition or useless displeasure if people act according to it in a situation or society. Based on these definitions, I guess that if it were not for manners, each person would do whatever he or she wants to without caring about others, and accordingly no one could live one’s life agreeably or comfortably. Hence, we do need manners in our lives.

Then, what does “offending manners” mean? Let me tell you my experiences about it. One day, I was taking the train, and there was a man who started talking on his cellular phone. As you know, it is quite noisy to hear someone talking on the phone, and it is prohibited to talk on cellular phones in the train. Accordingly, it could be said that the man offended manners and made others disgusted. As another example, when I was walking on the street, I saw a man spitting on the road. Surely, there is no clear rule or law that prohibits spitting on roads in Japan. However, without saying, it is very annoying to see someone spitting on the road. Hence, this man’s behavior also displeased others and probably offended manners. Now, we can see the reason why we must behave according to manners, although we can not see the reason why the men did such inconsiderate behaviors.

Manners are essential for all of us to live in comfort. Thus, if you feel that you have offended manners before, why don't you try not to do so any more? The more each person acts according to manners, the more comfortably and happily people can live their lives.


Working Backstage

There are many kinds of part time jobs in the society. I think the most popular jobs for students like me are waiter, waitress, clerk and tutor. I experienced waitress and clerk in the cafe. But I had strong desire to work in a very different kind of working place in this summer. I thought that might be a good experience for me. So I became a garbage collector in the amusement park this summer vacation. There, I felt pleasure and pride of working in the background.

First, we protect the safety inside the amusement park. The garbage collectors sometimes can do exciting and amuse guests, but most of the job is inconspicuous. Having a broom and a dustpan, we walk around in the park all day. But the only people who can walk around are us. Other workers can’t move from their posts. So we can find some trouble quickly and do something about that without delay.

Second, we can be a multi position for every kind of guests because we can stop our cleaning tasks whenever. If you want to know when the parade will start, you can ask us. If you get a sick suddenly, we will help you. If you don’t know where is the best position to see the fire works well, we’ll tell you. If you can’t take the picture with some monument well, we can help you. We sometimes become entertainers, nurses, information boards, advisers, photographers, as the guest requires.

Finally, what we are most proud of is the beauty of the amusement park. Sometime, I stop moving my broom and look around inside the park. I can find people who enjoy talking on the bench that I just wiped now. I can also find a boy sitting on the ground. The ground is very beautiful because I cleaned if with some antiseptics. I can also find a girl who is skipping in front of the beautiful flower garden that I removed packages of snack from just now. I always feel pride, when I look at the guests playing in the peaceful and dreamy atmosphere.

Changing my part-time-job to a very different thing was right answer. Maybe I couldn’t feel this kind of impression if I didn’t any action. My job is very inconspicuous and dirty. We don’t do some exciting thing like a dancer or attraction staff. Therefore there is something we can offer.


Teachers Make Students Better Or Worse

Although I have been learning English more than 5 years, I disliked it at first, when I was in junior high school. However, now, I am a student majoring in English study and communication. Why do you think I changed totally? The main reason is teachers. Why did the teachers affect me a lot? Let me tell the reasons why.

I started learning English from junior high school. In my junior high school, two teachers taught us English from 1st year to 3rd year. Unfortunately, I felt no affinity with them. Friends of mine also said the same thing as me, so, they might be not good at teaching. One teacher spoke violently toward her students, and she retired the next spring. The other teacher had vocabulary that she couldn’t read. Gradually, I began to lose my motivation for studying English. Finally, I disliked English and became poor at it.

Because of the entrance exam for high school, I had to go to the cram school near my house, and I met a great English teacher there. That’s one of the turning points in my life of English. At first, I couldn’t trust English teachers. But, he was not a teacher whom taught me in junior high school. Gradually, I was affected by him, and finally, I could respect him. He taught us very carefully. He always encouraged us to study all the subjects that we needed to enter high school. Then, when I graduated from junior high school, I came to be good at English. So, according to my experiences in studying or learning English, it is said that the influence that a teacher gives a student is so great.

As time passed, I became a high school student. And, I had a second turning point there. I still disliked English. There were four kinds of English classes. In particular, Reading class was the hardest for me. That's because we had to prepare for every class. In addition, I had this class twice a day. However, this was my second point. From 1st year to 3rd year, only one teacher was in charge of my class, so he knew my English level very well. Then, all too soon, I became a student who likes English. Also, before I became a 3rd year student, I decided to go to English literature department because I like English, and I wanted to use English as a tool in my future job. Moreover, I felt English is essential for my life.

In conclusion, this change is one of the greatest changes of mine. In my case, teachers in each school influenced with my learning styles, attitudes, and emotions. Then, I want you to think about these questions again. What do you think about my changes? What do you think is important to learn English? If you can get some ideas in learning English, I am glad. If not, please think about it.


The World Track

The world track championship tournament, which about two thousand athletes from two hundred three countries took part in opened in Osaka. It opened form August 5th and was held forty-seven events until September 2nd.

One day, for no reason at all I was watching it at home. Then, final five thousand-meter was just about to start. There was a woman, Kayoko Fukuchi, as the representative of Japan in this event. When it started, I was glued to the TV because her running was unbelievable. Immediately after they started, she took the lead in the race. The audience, emcee, and also we were surprised. Usually, an athlete of Japan doesn’t try to take the lead in like that long distance race in order to keep their physical strength for a final spurt. I worried whether she cloud keep on her pace or not. In the middle of the race, she stumbled. However she could keep the lead. When there were three thousand-meter she remaining, her pace slowed down and she had took on a severe look. Gradually, the others got ahead of her. Finally, the winner was an athlete who is from Ethiopia. Kayoko came in fourteenth. After the race, she said like with smiling sweetly in her interview, “Please forgive me because I felt great!”

Before this day, she took part in another race. Then, she ran the ten thousand-meter. At that time also she had an accident. Her spike came off at the four three hundred-meter. However, she did the run so aggressively and came in tenth. A newspaper said that Kayoko did training in Ethiopia which far exceeds our imagination. Everything was ready for her race. In spite of her efforts, she couldn’t get a gold medal in the end. If I were in her situation, I would give up running or trying to take a gold medal. But she wouldn’t. She always replied cheerful to the media in her interview too. She may have a strong spirit. She won’t be afraid of making a mistake. She will challenge everything even if it is impossible.

This year of the world track championship tournament was exciting and impressive. Not only her, but also another athletes of Japan were great. Through this tournament, I was given a feeling of the importance of attempting a challenge especially from her.
In any time, we have fear in our own lives. Of course I have also a little fear. For example family, friends, and especially, I am worrying about whether we can get a job or not. Like she couldn’t get a gold medal, I may not take a job which I want to. However, I want to do my best to the end. Then, I feel I can get something better than before at that moment.


Near But Far Country: Korea

Are you interested in Korea? Do you know about Korea? Now, Korea is called “Cool Korea” and attracted all over the world as well as Japan. Although I have never been to Korea, I feel Korea is very close to Japan. There are some reasons why I feel so. Getting over many problems, we gradually approach each other.

First of all, Japanese and Korean history is deeply connected. For a long time, Japan colonized Korea and Korean was forced to speak Japanese, so there are a few old people who can speak Japanese. After that, being released from being a colony, Korea didn’t accept Japanese culture, for example, movie, drama, and music until 1998, because Koreans felt bad feelings if they consumed Japanese culture. This is a very sad history. No mater how much I was unconcerned with war or colonial history, Koreans, especially old people have bad impression about Japan and Japanese people including me. However, in 1998 Japanese artist, Chage and Aska, held a concert in Korea for the first time. Japanese music has accepted.

After that, the relationship between Korea and Japan has changed for the better. Secondly, the boom of Korean dramas is another reason. Before the boom, Japanese, including me, didn’t know how wonderful and heart-warming Korean dramas are. Maybe, “Winter Sonata” became a signal for the boom. Many people, especially elderly women, like the story and they actually went to Korea. I think having been to Korea is the best way to understand what the real Korea is. I watch Korean dramas too. They are very interesting and emotional. Moreover, in my opinion, Korean actors are more “cool” than Japanese actors. Now we can easily whenever we want to and this makes me happy. If I was born in the past, I wouldn’t have been able to watch any of those. Watching dramas makes me want to study Korean, so I took Korean class in Bunkyo Gakuin University.

The final reason why I feel close to Korea is my study. First, I was confused because Korean letters are so different from Japanese or English. It was the very newest letters for me. And the number of vowels is almost twice as many as Japanese. Gradually, the more I study, the more I feel Korean is interesting. What is more, my teacher, who is Korean lady, is very earnest because she can speak Japanese and she holds a class in Japanese, so I always feel I should do my best like her. Now, I can read the letters or words, and pronounce, but I can’t understand the meaning, nevertheless when I see a sign written in Korean at station or town, I’m glad to read it. And I often discover common things between Korea and Japan. My teacher tells us too. Korean culture is much closer than American culture. Knowing things I didn’t know is very fantastic. Especially there is a distance between Korea and Japan because of the history.We have a sad history, but we can change it to be better than now. I feel Korea is close to Japan not only geographically, but also in everything, so I would be very happy if Koreans also feel as I do.


Giving Birth and Abortion

For all women, giving birth is one of the most important events in life. This is a fact that hasn’t changed for a long time. However, it is also a fact that there are many delivery and abortion of unexpected pregnancies. This is not just an affair of other people, but an affair that could happen to almost anyone. Now each of us should consider what we can do and we should know as a person who has possibilities to take care of an irreplaceable life. This will avoid a pregnancy that is not expected.

In 1985, the ratio of induced abortion was 50.2 to the population of 1,000 women, and in 2005, that was 10.3. Though the rate of the induced abortion shows us a gradual decrease year by year, the abortion number in Japan is still much higher compared with other developed countries. One of the reasons of this is the shortage of sex education in Japan. The problem of abandoned children is also a controversial issue. The “Baby Hatch”, that was established and started to be used in 2006 in Japan, is a place where mothers can bring their babies, usually newborn, and leave them anonymously in a safe place to be found and cared for. This has caused a lot of fuss. Some people claim that it will be promote abandonment, while others are saying that it will prevent the death of the newborn baby. This is an issue that we have to discuss, but something must be done to prevent unwanted birth.

Many developed countries have taken various measures against abortion increase while Japan has taken very few measures. For example, in European countries, they built clinics where people can talk about contraception, and offers a free contraceptive or at a bargain price. The abortion number in Japan is around 330,000 a year. This is more than 6 times the number of cases of food poisoning. Most of the social efforts to reduce this are not being done, despite the government using a vast budget to reduce food poisoning. That means people consider this to be an individual problem, but actually it is a social problem.

Each of us have to take this issue very seriously. I want you to think about this to avoid a pregnancy that is not expected. I’m sure that carefully planning a pregnancy and giving birth will make you happy.



My First Journey

I felt many surprises in this summer. I went to Minnesota to study. I spent three weeks there in summer vacation. It was too short to study, but it was too long to travel. I learned many things.

First, I noticed several differences between America and Japan. Of course, I know a little about it. However, it was more different than I thought. For example, in America, family members often eat "on the run" individually, not together. They start to eat at their own pace. I was so surprised, because my mother used to tell me "You must wait for everyone to come." In America there was no longer such a custom, but they don't dislike each other.

In addition, parents and children’s communication is very good in America. They really love each other. There are a lot of family conversations. They go out on holiday and they take tea break many times together even if the children grow up. On the other hand, Japanese children leave or distance themselves from their parents. I surely know some children are friendly with their parents, but generally Japanese some adults overprotect their children when the children are still kids. However, when children come of age, they are excessively distant from their parents. If children depend on their parents, the children are thought by society to not be good.

Second, I got a lot of experiences this summer. I have both sweet memories and hard memories. Talking of sweet one, of course I remember the home-stay program. I went to the home of the Powers in the town of Becker for three days. It was very short and I wanted to stay there more. The Powers are very kind and they are interested in Japanese culture. It was interesting to speak my mother country in a foreign country, and I thought this was a good experience. However, I was so nervous, because it was my first trip overseas. I didn't know how to buy something and how to spend my free time. Furthermore, the hardest memory is bath time. The dorm doesn't have a bathtub, so we had to take a shower in a narrow space. This time, I really missed hot springs!

Well, thanks to this experience, I could become stronger mentally, and I know if I go somewhere, I will live there somehow. It depends on nothing more than where to go. I went to the countryside in Minnesota and I stayed in the dorm, so people there were very gentle. I might only take advantage of their kindness. I could know about my skills and noticed that I could develop it.

This is my short-term study abroad. I'm so glad that I could get this chance. I could find the reason to study English. I only want to learn it to speak with my new friends in Minnesota. It is a big harvest for me. I'm sure I could never understand many exciting things if I stay Japan all the time. I'm genuinely thanking my parents for sending me to America. I will remember this summer vacation forever.


Indispensable Thing For Me

There are a lot of precious things in our lives. These things play a big role for us. In fact, I am supported, encouraged by them. So, what are my main indispensable things.
First of all, I think friends are an indispensable thing for me. I was supported, helped, and given energy by them when I was depressed, or suffering from something. Just by talking with my friends, my feeling sometimes changed into positive thinking. Also, I can feel happy and comfortable from the bottom of my heart when I share enjoyable time with them.

Secondly, I think music is also an indispensable thing for me. I’m able to relax and become calm while listening to music. The number of times that I listen to music has increased since I bought an i-Pod. When I want to concentrate on something, or enter into my own world, it is very useful. The advantage of it is that it can cover up various noise such as people talking, and traffic noise. In addition, the words of songs are effective and wonderful things, I think. Sometimes I am cheered up by them, at the same time I can agree with them.

Thirdly, I think family and home are the most indispensable thing for me. I can expose and reveal myself in front of my family. So, I tend to become selfish. I tend to hurt my family’s feelings, every time they preach to me, especially my mother. She loves and supports me really, but I can’t express her virtues easily. Thanks to my parents, I have been able to go to school, live happily, and get various things that I want to buy. Moreover, I am thankful for my older sister. She is an active challenger, has her own solid opinion very different from me. So, I am influenced by her greatly. When I was troubled with something, she gave me some accurate advice.

Each person has different valuable things respectively. I think we must not forget the virtue, and have to appreciate them. Someday, I want to repay the kindness of many people who supports me, and also do the same thing for somebody else.


Fiji Says Bula!

Do you say hello with a bright smile when you see a foreigner on the street? Most people will usually turn their eyes away soon. They try to have nothing to do with them. I have never understood why a lot of people in Japan do so, not only to foreigners, but also among Japanese. We hardly have interest in another person. Is it usual? Is it natural? I think this custom is sad.

I went to Fiji during this summer vacation. It was completely different from Japan. First of all, Fijian's or Indian's appearances were completely different from Japanese. They have black skins, very big eyes, and naturally curly hair, so I was really different among them, but they never treated and looked at me as a stranger. And they never ignored me and felt I was a nuisance when I asked them something. In Fiji, I got lost many times, but I didn’t feel alone and I didn’t feel sad, because people in Fiji were always very friendly. They said “Bula!” with bright smile when I passed each other. Bula means hello in Fijian. They always said it even if I didn’t look at him or her. They sounded the car horn and smiled at me when they were driving cars and I was walking on the street. Sometimes I could hear that people said “Konnnichiwa” to me, and sometimes we continued the conversation. They asked me, “How is Fiji?” “Do you like Fiji?” or “Where are you from?” What is more, some people gave me their e-mail addresses and asked me to send e-mail. I was surprised at their positive behavior, but thanks to it, I could feel that this country welcomed me and this country's people admitted my existence. This country was really warm and peaceful. I think the reason is in this greeting custom.

After I came back to Japan, I thought about the importance of greetings. What is the importance of greetings? What is the meaning of greetings? I think there are many meanings of greeting but I think it is for admitting and acknowledging our co-existence. You exist here now and I exist here now.

Greeting is a wonder, isn’t it? When we are greeted, our hearts become warm. It’s only a word, but the word of greeting can change the day. When we say “Good morning,” someone returns “Good morning.” I don’t know why, but we can be happy, can’t we? I think to the person who can greet properly, surrounding people open their hearts unconsciously.

I think that even a chance acquaintance is preordained. It seems like an accident, but perhaps, the person was our family or friend and we had met again and again in the ancient previous incarnation. It is what is called “soul mate.” It doesn’t matter whether reincarnation is real or not. If people all over the world think like it is so, war may disappear in this world. In a closer scene, if our feet are stepped on in the train, we will not quarrel. “Ouch! Who stepped on my feet?” You look back angrily but what would you do if it were your friend?

Cherish the greeting with strangers. Actually, they are longtime friends. And the way that we can reconfirm that is with greetings like good morning, hello, and thank you. Greetings have wonderful power.


Different Meanings of Smiles

A smile sometimes has different meanings in each culture. When do you smile? Why do you smile? People smile when something funny happens or someone makes a joke. They will be common reasons why people do that. However, a smile is not only has amusing meanings but also has some different meanings. When I stayed in New Zealand to study English, I found two different smiles.

First one is related to Japanese nature. When I talked with my host family, I couldn’t express well what I wanted to say. Then, I smiled because I didn’t know what I should say in the situation. My host mother tried to understand me but she didn’t understand why I smiled. The reason why I smiled was to hide my embarrassment. Like me, a friend of mine often smiled in classes when she couldn’t understand what teachers or classmates said. I understood the meaning of her smile but other students from different countries didn’t. I usually don’t care her smiles to hide her embarrassment, but I felt that her smile was different from others and found that it would be strange for them in the situation. Japanese including me smile to hide our embarrassment unconsciously and foreigners have trouble in understand our smile meaning. In Japan, embarrassing sometimes cause smiles. It might be Japanese unique smile.

Second different smile is related to custom of New Zealand. Other day, I went for a walk alone. Around the house I stayed was very quiet place and few cars on the road through days. When I walked down a street, I met a boy who was jogging. I’m not acquaintance with him but he smiled at me and said ‘Hi!’ I was happy but I was surprised at the same time. Although I reacted his greet, some Japanese might ignore him in the situation. If so, he might regard them as rude people. Generally speaking, Japanese are shy and smiling and greeting with stranger is unusual in Japan. We never greet with strangers even like the situation that there are a few people on a street. I think that the custom people greet each other even when they are strangers is good so I was happy when the boy smiled and greeted with me. I understood that his smile meant mere friendliness. Then I found the different smile which I never seen in Japan.

We have common meanings of smiles but we also have different meanings. Although the different meanings of smiles sometimes cause confusing or misinterpret, it is interesting and important to know the differences, I think. The word ‘smile’ sometimes has complex meanings in each culture.